


Fool's Gold

by spreadyourwingsandfly



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: F/M, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Heartbreak, Personal Growth, Post-Break Up, Post-Divorce, Self-Esteem Issues, self sabotage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-09 13:20:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15268359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spreadyourwingsandfly/pseuds/spreadyourwingsandfly
Summary: This takes place during ‘Only You’.All that glitters is not gold.That’s something that T’Challa’s dad taught to him at a young age, a lesson that King T’Chaka worked to extraordinarily hard to instill into a young Prince T’Challa’s mind.It didn’t take until now, when he’s laying in bed after she’s left, staring at the way that the moonlight takes up the spot that used to be yours.T’Challa knows what he saw in Nisa, and yet, he doesn’t., She’s attractive, yet she is rude. She is funny, yet she is reckless. She is intelligent, yet she is flighty. She is the stark contrast of who the elders or his baba or his umama would pick out for him.He doesn’t know why, but he falls for her. And when T’Challa Udaku falls, he falls hard.





	Fool's Gold

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Only You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15044456) by [spreadyourwingsandfly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spreadyourwingsandfly/pseuds/spreadyourwingsandfly). 



> WARNING- SEXUAL THEMES BUT NOTHING GRAPHIC, SEVERE INSECURITIES, HEARTBREAK, SELF-SABOTAGING BEHAVIOR, BLAMING ONESELF, DIVORCE, AND MENTIONS OF INFIDELITY

This takes place during ‘Only You’. 

All that glitters is not gold.  
That’s something that T’Challa’s dad taught to him at a young age, a lesson that King T’Chaka worked to extraordinarily hard to instill into a young Prince T’Challa’s mind.  
It didn’t take until now, when he’s laying in bed after she’s left, staring at the way that the moonlight takes up the spot that used to be yours.  
T’Challa knows what he saw in Nisa, and yet, he doesn’t., She’s attractive, yet she is rude. She is funny, yet she is reckless. She is intelligent, yet she is flighty. She is the stark contrast of who the elders or his baba or his umama would pick out for him.  
He doesn’t know why, but he falls for her. And when T’Challa Udaku falls, he falls hard. It is something that he realized quite quickly in the aftermath of losing Nakia, in the quiet hours of the night when he wonders why his first love had to be someone with wanderlust.  
So he goes to this banquet, right? And he can’t stand the fact that he has to fake another smile, shake another hand, listen to another speech, endure another story.  
Then he sees her, Nisa. She is clothed in this golden dress that looks like it is made of jewels, that hugs her curves tightly, accentuating the features that he tried to keep his eyes away from, being the gentleman that he is.  
He had to try even harder to remember his manners when she sauntered over to him, dazzling smile showcased and had extended.  
‘’I heard that you don’t like bowing. That you like to keep things casual.’’  
‘’You have heard correct. I have seen you around before, but I do not know your name.’’  
‘’It is Nisa, your highness. I came to save you because it looks like you are sick of talking to strangers. That man in the suit was on his way over here.’’  
She nods her head towards a man that T’Challa would later come to know as Tony Stark, who’s attention focuses on Queen Ramonda and Princess Shuri now that his path to T’Challa has been blocked.  
‘’Well, I appreciate that. Maybe I can escort you over to the refreshments table, hm?’’  
‘’That would be lovely,’’ she give a smile that is far more destructive than it should be, looping her arm through his and sauntering away with him.  
It’s about a half an hour later that she is sitting on the balcony with him, laughing while the rest of the Udaku family mingles inside. The only company for these two would be the stars, twinkling and shining high above them the way that Nisa’s eyes are shining as she looks at him.  
So he takes a leap of faith, gathering all of his courage and asking her out on a date,  
She accepts.  
The two part ways after another half hour.  
The first date is amazing despite the fact that he has members of the Dora Milaje acting as chaperone. They see a movie and then go to dinner, laughing about the fact that they never spoke until now, when he is well on his way to being twenty years old. He wonders, had he not began dating Nakia four years ago, would he have found Nisa sooner? Would he have been as happy with Nisa as he is now?  
T’Challa Udaku graves affection the way that one craves a cold glass of water on a hot, humid day. He has always be en an affectionate person, always craved physical human contact. It is not something that he admits- as the future king, he believes that he has to be stoic and reserved and not show the affection that he craves. Anyone that knows him, though, can tell you that he is someone who wants desperately to be able to let people in, to be vulnerable when he can. T’Challa has the kind of personality that draws people in,that brings the kind of interactions that he craves. A beautiful heart attracts others.  
Unfortunately, his light also attracts insects to it. Like a moth to a flame, T'Challa and his personality, looks, and wealth often attract people who are no good for him.  
Nisa was one of those people.  
His mother warned him, his dad warned him, Okoye and W’Kabi warned him. Even Shuri raised her objections to it, the most serious he has ever seen her.  
T’Challa does not listen, though. He falls into lust as he falls into love, blinded by Nisa’s look and the personality that she shows him and the way that he feels.  
He is too blinded by her to see that she only shows him the part of herself that she wants to see, the part that is all glitter and gold and shiny and clean and perfect.  
It's the show she puts on in between the sheets,where she makes him believe that there’s more to this than there actually is. It is the face that she puts on when she is on his arm at social events, the kisses and whispers of fidelity when she is alone with him. He’s falling for it, and he doesn’t even know that it’s all facade. He doesn’t know that he’s on the side, that her real love is the freedom to do what she wants.  
Or so everyone thinks.  
T’Challa knows that it’s wrong, that her love isn’t real. It didn’t feel this way with Nakia, didn’t feel this forced and fake. He know that she's been using him, and he has known it since the day that he first met her. He pushed it aside then, as he does now. He blames it on the fact that Nakia broke his heart, that he fell for a girl with Wanderlust.  
So he tries harder. T’Challa take what he learned in his relationship with Nakiam and applies it to… whatever it is he has going on with Nisa. He does his best to love her the way she deserves, tries to forget his past and make peace with it so that he can have Nisa in his future. He loves her, loves her confidence, loves the way she carries herself. He loves the way that she makes him feel,the exhilaration of finally learning to love again.  
He wants to marry this girl.  
Or, does he want to marry the idea of her?  
He pushes that out of his mind when she wraps her arms around him, in a hug that is so intimate in its simplicity. It’s one of the few times that they’re not making love, that they can truly be alone. It’s in that moment that he realizes that he’s in deep, and he doesn’t mind.  
All that glitters is not gold.  
Perhaps that’s why he feels so stupid when she ends things, when she leaves with a shrug and a smirk. She doesn’t want this life, the life that T’Challa has. He can understand that. It was not what Nakia wanted either.  
Maybe it’ why years later, when he’s spinning and reeling from his divorce from you that he finds himself in this same situation. Be finds himself falling into her again, falling into bed to ease the loneliness. She’s his remedy tonight, the one healing the you-sized whole that is in his heart. He knows that this is, knows that she faces attention and he loves addiction so this is the middle ground. He’s not falling for her again, he just needs someone to be there for him, This time, she won’t get a chance to break his heart He’s still hurting over you, mourning over the fact that the marriage is truly and possibly eternally over.  
So he has another drink with her.  
They laugh and talk about her business.  
He brings her back to the palace, to his chambers, to sheets that he’s only previously shared with you for the past fifteen years.  
It’s mutual, though. He doesn't regret the experiences that led to this moment, and he doesn’t regret this moment. He’s protecting himself this time. T’Challa knows what this is. It can’t hurt him now, nothing can after losing your marriage and you.  
All that glitters is not gold, and he knows that now.  
He’s just done falling for fool’s gold, but he doesn't mind it right now.  
Because he know that he lost the real thing when he lost you.

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER- I do not own anything but Nisa and the plot. All Marvel characters and their fictional worlds belong to their rightful owners.


End file.
